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Bamjan and his ashram in another controversy over missing people

December 31, 2018| Read: 1minute

Four families alleging their relatives went missing from Ram Bahadur Bamjan’s ashram in Bara and Sindhupalchowk have yet again caught up the 28 year old self-proclaimed ‘living Buddha’ in another controversy. The news surfaced after relatives went to the police to help them find their missing relatives last week, which prompted the police to visit and question Bamjan.

News escalated after more families came out saying their members were missing too – a total of 4 by 28th December, 2018.

Police have stepped up their investigation into the matter after pressure from family members and the media. At the same time, officials of Bodhi Shrawan Dharma Sangha, a religious organisation led by Banjan, organised a press meet to refute the allegations leveled against him. They suggested, ‘thousands try to reach the ashram every year to seek Bamjan’s blessing, of which many fail to arrive due to their own personal things, and that Bamjan cannot be held accountable for the missing persons’.

However, family members are convinced their relatives had reached the ashram. The four missing people are, Fulmaya Rumba (30), Sanchalal Waiba (51), Karma Waiba, and Suresh Kumar Ale Magar. Rumba had left home seven years ago to become a nun, and has been missing since the past 4 years.

This is not Bamjan and his ashram’s first controversy – in 2012, police had rescued a Slovak woman who was held captive by the ashram for practicing witchcraft, in 2018 a nun said she was repeatedly raped by Bamjan, and several ex-disciples have said he has sexually assaulted many disciples.